Spirit Effects
by Razor Blade the Unicron
Summary: It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.
1. Winter Solstice: The Spirit World

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_Winter Solstice: The Spirit World_

* * *

"That's it! He needs help!"

"Sokka, wait!"

Sokka ran outside without heeding his sister. Everyone else was fine with leaving Aang to face Hei Bai alone, but he sure wasn't. He wasn't just going to sit by as his friend was throw around by it.

"Hei Bai!" he raised his boomerang in preparation to throw. "Over here!"

Sokka threw his boomerang, it simply bouncing off Hei Bai as if it were a pebble. He quickly sprinted forward towards Aang, surprisingly unafraid of the massive spirit.

"Sokka, go back!" yelled Aang.

"We'll fight him together, Aang." Sokka said, turning around to see that Hei Bai had vanished.

"I don't want to fight him unless I-" started Aang.

Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed Sokka, yanking him away from Aang. Hei Bai squeezed Sokka tightly, severely cutting off his air supply, before spiriting back into the forest. Any confidence Sokka had previously vanished, especially when hearing Katara cry out his name fearfully. Behind Hei Bai, Aang flew on his glider, and Sokka held out his hand in hopes of being rescued.

"Aang!" he cried out. "Over here! Help!"

"Hang on, Sokka!" yelled Aang.

He flew in close, reaching for Sokka's hand. The tips of their fingers clasped, when there was a sudden flash of light, and then everything went dark. Aang wasn't there anymore.

* * *

Sokka opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by tall stalks of bamboo. He looked around in confusion, trying to remember what had happened to lead to this. Nothing came to him.

_Alright, what's the last thing that happened?_ He put a hand to his head to think. _Aang was facing down Hei Bai and I ran out to help him..._ Then there was a blank. _Aang was reaching for me for some reason._

Sokka grit his teeth in irritation. He reached for Boomerang to start cutting through the bamboo, but it wasn't there. That was concerning. He always had Boomerang, and he would have noticed if he had dropped it.

_Well, nothing to be gained by standing here._

Sokka pushed through the bamboo, trying to not to let any swing back and hit him. Unfamiliar voices in front of him made him stop, and he leaned in to listen without leaving the sea of bamboo.

"Do you think we'll ever get back to the village?" asked someone nervously.

"Maybe," replied someone else dully. "Or we'll all just be stuck here forever."

"Don't say something like that!" snapped yet another person.

Sokka slowly backed away from the voices as he remembered what happened. Hei Bai had taken him, and Aang hadn't been able to save him in time. He must have been taken into the spirit world.

_No need to start panicking. Aang will find a way to get me out. And those other people, too._

Feeling slightly less panicked, Sokka turned around and started walking in the opposite direction of the voices. Maybe Aang was already in the spirit world, and just ended up somewhere else. And even if the wasn't there was no point in just sitting around. There was probably somewhere he could explore.

Finally, he stepped out of the sea of bamboo. He had expected the spirit world to look weird, but it looked surprisingly normal. Sure, the sky looked purple and green, and some of the grass looked a bit blue, but that was about it.

A short distance away, there was a young man sitting on a rock with a fire burning merrily in front of him. He had black hair tied up in a ponytail on the top of his head, and was wearing orange and yellow. The colors of the Fire Nation.

Before Sokka could go back to the bamboo, the man spotted him, and raised a hand up in greeting. "Hey, man!" he called.

If he was a firebender, he could set all of the bamboo on fire. Feeling caught, Sokka cautiously walked over to him. "Uh, hey."

He jumped up as grabbed Sokka's hand as soon as he came close enough. "Name's Kuzon." He eagerly shook Sokka's hand. "What's your's?"

"I'm Sokka." He pulled his hand away. "So, uh, just to be sure, this is the spirit world, right?"

Kuzon's face fell. "Oh, you don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

"You died, and now you're here. So, yes. This is the spirit world."

Sokka put his hands up. "Whoa, I'm not dead!"

He sighed. "Yeah, it's always like that at first-"

"No, I was taken here by a spirit!" Kuzon raised an eyebrow. "I was trying to help my friend Aang stop Hei Bai and-"

"Aang?" Kuzon looked at Sokka with wide eyes. "As in Aang the Avatar?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I knew he was still alive!" Kuzon was grinning broadly. "What training is he on? Has he made it to firebending yet?"

Sokka took a step back. "You know Aang?"

"We were friends! Are you adventuring with him?" Kuzon excitedly grabbed Sokka's wrists. "When you get back, can you tell him that I said hello?"

"Um..."

"Wait, maybe you can bring something back to him! I had a firebending scroll when I died, and you can give it to Aang to study." He started pulling Sokka towards a cave off in the distance. "Do you know how much longer you'll be here for?"

"Well the village wanted Hei Bai stopped before the solstice, so Aang will try to get me out before then."

"This will be quick!" Kuzon smiled. "Aang will understand if you're a bit late, anyways."

A glow came out from the bamboo sea, and Sokka frowned in worry.

* * *

Bamboo sprouted up where Hei Bai walked away. Out came people, looking confused and tired, and Katara's eyes lit up. Sokka was going to be there! As people greeted those who had been lost, Katara's smile faded away. Sokka wasn't there.

"Aang?" she asked nervously. "Where's Sokka?"

Aang frowned nervously. "I don't know. He should be with the others."

"Did something happen?" She gripped Sokka's boomerang tightly. _Oh, Sokka, where are you?_

* * *

Kuzon had been talking non-stop about Aang the entire way to the cave and back. Sokka held the scroll tightly in his hand, wondering if it would just be lost when he left the spirit world or if it would really come back with him.

"Kuzon!" yelled someone suddenly. "What are you doing?"

Sokka turned to see another person wearing Fire Nation clothes, but he was younger than Kuzon. "Lu Ten!" Kuzon frowned as the younger boy practically ran over to them. "What's wrong?"

Lu Ten pointed over at the bamboo, where the glow was starting to vanish. "There is a portal out of the spirit world open, and it's starting to close!" He then pointed at Sokka. "He needs to go before it's too late!"

Sokka's eyes widened fearfully, and Kuzon looked over at him with shame and worry evident on his face. "Oh! Sokka, hurry!"

With no response, Sokka sprinted off into the bamboo as the light vanished. Lu Ten glared at Kuzon, who looked down at the ground with guilt.

"Do you realize what you've done?" asked Lu Ten. "He'll be lucky to make it out of here with no effects from the spirit world."

"Like what?" asked Kuzon nervously.

"I guess you'll have to wait and see. You did basically make yourself his guardian spirit. You'll be sure to see him again."

* * *

Sokka stumbled out of the bamboo onto the ground, to be immediately grabbed in a tight hug by Katara. "Sokka! We were so worried about you! What happened to you?"

"I think I met a spirit." Sokka looked over at Aang, who was looking at him oddly. "He said his name was Kuzon."

Aang's eyes widened. "You met Kuzon?"

"He wanted me to give you something." Sokka looked down at his hand, only to see that the scroll was gone. "But I guess it didn't come back with me."

"I'm just glad you're back," said Katara.

Aang kept staring at Sokka, before shaking his head as if to snap out of some sort of trance. "Well, it's great you're back, Sokka. But we might have a problem on our hands. See, I need to talk to Avatar Roku..."

* * *

As Appa set off at a fast pace towards the Fire Nation, Aang could help but look over at Sokka once more. Something had clearly happened to him in the spirit world. There were very light, but still visible, blue lines running down Sokka's arms, almost like his tattoos, but with no arrows on his hands. Katara didn't seem to notice them, so clearly he could only see them because he was the Avatar.

But they would have to wait for another time. After talking to Roku, he would talk to Sokka about what had happened in the spirit world. For now, they had to hurry before the eclipse passed.

* * *

_So this a pseudo-au, and mostly follows the plot of the show. Show-canon moments will be mentioned only in passing, and the main focus will be on how Sokka was effected by the spirit world._

_Also, apologies in advance for any canon I'm breaking. I'm not all that Avatar-smart._


	2. Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku_

* * *

After the terror that was getting past the Fire Nation blockade and nearly falling into the sea, almost getting killed by Fire Sages, being saved by Avatar Roku as he also destroyed the temple, and narrowly escaping being drowned in lava, Sokka was glad that the night was spent slowly flying through the night sky. His arms felt all tingly, likely from the chains being burned off my Roku.

Just as Sokka was about to slip off to sleep, someone gently grabbed his arm, pulling at it lightly. "Sokka?" It was Aang. "I need to talk to you about something."

Annoyed, Sokka sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What is it, Aang? I was just about to fall asleep."

"It's about when you were in the spirit world."

Suddenly Sokka didn't feel tired. He noticed that Aang seemed to have intentionally waited for Katara to fall asleep. "Yeah?"

"Did something... strange happen while you were there?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I thought I saw something on your arms." He reached to pull up Sokka's sleeve. "Can I look?"

Sokka nodded. "If you want to make sure there isn't some sort of spirit-juice or whatever on me, go right ahead."

Aang smiled in thanks, and rolled up Sokka's sleeve. The blue line was still there, but it was more vivid than before. He glanced at Sokka, to see if he could see the line, and the look of shock on his face was enough to confirm that he could.

"Sokka, do you know how you got these?" asked Aang.

"I don't even know what they are!" Sokka rubbed his hand across the line, as if to scrub it away, but nothing happened. "Wait, are you saying there's one on my other arm?"

"Whoa, whoa, clam down!" Aang grabbed Sokka's hands before he could pull up his other sleeve. "I don't know what they mean, but they have something to do with the spirit world. I think only you and I can see them. Katara didn't seem to notice them yesterday."

"Great, so I have magic lines on my arms that are invisible to everyone else!" Sokka pulled his hands away from Aang. "What next?"

"Have your arms felt weird at all?"

Sokka gave a half-hearted shrug. "I mean, they're been feeling tingly ever since Roku blasted the chains off of us." He frowned. "Or, I think it was a little bit before? Maybe just before the door opened."

Aang frowned. "I'm not sure what that would mean." Sokka sighed. "Just tell me if anything changes, okay? I here if you need to talk."

He finally smiled. "Thanks, Aang. Oh, and, can we not tell Katara? If she knew there was some spirit-stuff going on with me, she might freak out."

"I don't know if I can lie to Katara like that..."

"It's only lying if you say something to begin with!" Sokka grinned. "We'll just keep this to ourselves, and nobody will have to worry!"

Aang gave a small smile. "Okay." _I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, anyways._


	3. The Storm

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_The Storm_

* * *

To Sokka's relief nothing unusual had happened with the lines on his arms over the past few days. Sure, he had some weird dreams recently, but nothing to do with the lines. At the moment they needed supplies, so he had offered to help out with a fisherman in order to get more supplies.

In hindsight, he really should have listened to Aang. He had never been wrong about these sort of things, and now Sokka was on a tiny fishing boat in the middle of a massive deluge of rain. The boat was rocking violently, and water kept sloshing onto the deck.

His arms tingled suddenly. Sokka froze in the middle of the task he was doing, and looked at his arms. There was a crack of lightning. His arms looked normal.

"Move it, boy!" snapped the fisherman. "Don't just stand there like a rock!"

"Yes, of course!" Sokka snapped out of his trance. He would tell Aang about his arms later.

* * *

"I'm too young to die!" cried Sokka. The storm had worsened, and he was clinging onto a rope just to not fall over.

"I'm not but I still don't want to!" cried the fisherman.

There was a low grumble in the sky, and Aang was suddenly on the ship. A bolt of lightning knocked the mast down, which he quickly sliced in half before it could hit Sokka and the fisherman.

Thinking on his feet, Sokka quickly tied a rope around his and the fisherman's waste, with Aang grabbing it in an instant.

"Hang on to the rope!" Aang zipped back over to Appa, and yanked on the rope, pulling the two of them up int the air.

Sokka let out a cry of surprise, before landing on the saddle. For a moment, there was relief, then a huge wave crashed over them as Appa let out a cry. Sokka felt nothing but cold water for a moment as he gripped the edge of the saddle, when his arms began to tingle once again.

Air swirled around Appa, and Sokka was pushed down into the saddle as they began to move upwards. He forced his eyes open, seeing that Aang's tattoos were glowing brightly as he held a sphere of air around them.

There was a soft glow coming from under Sokka's sleeves, exactly where the lines were. As they burst out of the water, Aang stopped glowing, and so did Sokka. He wordlessly stared at his arms as they flew high into the eye of the storm.

* * *

Sokka acted like nothing was unusual as they bade the fisherman and his wife farewell. As they went to actually gather some supplies, Katara finally shooed the two of them off as they nearly knocked over an entire stand of fruit. Aang turned towards Sokka in excitement, an idea of what to do already forming, when Sokka shook his head.

"Aang, we need to talk about..." He grabbed his wrists. "The thing."

Aang's eyes widened. "Oh."

They were soon at the edge of the village, in the forest. Sokka had shucked off his shirt entirely, pulling back on his short-sleeved tunic for modesty. The lines had brightened once more. They were nowhere as vivid as Aang's tattoos, but they were clear enough to no longer look like veins.

"They had been glowing," said Sokka as Aang ran his hand over the lines. "At same time your tattoos were."

"You're sure?" asked Aang. "It's wasn't just a trick of the light?"

"I'm positive!" Sokka coughed. "They were glowing, and it felt like there was... something!" He placed a hand to his head and sighed. "I'm not sure to how describe it."

"Energy?"

He looked up in surprise. "Yeah! Like there was energy pulsing through me!"

Aang pulled his hands away. "That's what it feels like when I go into the Avatar State."

Sokka stared at Aang in confusion. "So what does that mean?"

He shook his head. "I wish I knew, Sokka. Just..." he paused to think. "Next time I go into the Avatar State, see if anything else happens to you."

Sokka nodded. He went to pull off his tunic and put back on his shirt, but hesitated. It was hard to see if the blue lines were glowing when they were covered by his sleeves. For now, he would go without sleeves.


	4. The Siege of the North

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_The Siege of the North_

* * *

The Northern Water Tribe, Sokka had decided, was annoying. Sure, they had finally let Katara and Aang train, and Yue was so kind and beautiful, but they were still aggravating. But flying with Yue had been so amazing, and they had been so close - too close - when the black snow came. The Fire Nation was coming.

Then there were drums and running. Yue said they had to stay away from each other, and she had to stay dutiful to her tribe, but that wasn't important at the moment. He had to be a warrior, no matter what.

The chief gave him marks and Yue started to cry, so he just held boomerang tightly as they got ready. They were on the wall, and a ball of fire crashed through the wall, followed by more. Aang and Appa were in the air, and Katara was buried under snow.

Then the uniforms were wrong, and Sokka was right and he was praised. And then he was telling everyone what they needed to know, but Han was a jerk and Yue deserved better than him. Especially since he just wanted to use Yue to look better.

He was kicked off the mission because Han was the worst and he couldn't even remember Zhao's name. But he deserved to have his teeth kicked in, and it was almost worth getting in trouble. He sharpened boomerang and then it turned out that the chief still wanted him.

He would guard Yue, so he hurried off to find her. Wherever she was. His arms were cold and he wished he and put his shirt back on before putting on the thick parka, but it was too late now.

Then his arms were tingling again, and he almost tore the sleeves off. He looked under them, and the lines were glowing. But as much as he wanted to see if they changed, he had to find Yue first. And considering his arms were glowing, she was probably with Aang and Katara.

Then Appa came with Yue, and she was panicking too much to say anything but that there was a scarred firebender. They went somewhere that was warm and there was grass, and Katara was down. Aang wasn't there, since Zuko had taken him away. But his arms were tingling, so Aang was still glowing, but what did that mean?

He had been meditating. Katara had been caught off-guard by Zuko. She felt guilty, but he promised it would be okay. They were back on Appa, and they were in a snowstorm. Ice was cracked and Katara looked scared, but also long as his arms kept glowing that meant Aang was still glowing.

There was a light in the sky and it went somewhere in the snow. Then they stopped. His arms were no longer tingling. But he knew that Zuko wasn't one to give up, and all that meant was that Aang was done meditating.

He was saved by Katara and said that the spirits were in trouble. But Aang made them bring Zuko, but there wasn't time to argue as the moon turned red and Yue said she was saved by the moon spirit. Zhao was saying how he would take away the moon, and they all jumped down from Appa to stop him. It was hot in the oasis that Sokka had to shuck off his jacket and he could see that the blue lines had brightened once again.

Then Iroh was there and he was saying that Zhao was crazy. Even he didn't want the moon spirit killed. The moon faded to blue, but Zhao threw fire and the moon was gone entirely. Yue was starting to cry, when Aang began to glow once more, and he stepped towards the pond.

He looked at his arms, and they were glowing too. Yue seemed to glance at the lines briefly, but then her gaze was back on Aang as all the water around them began to glow and it surged into a huge creature. His arms were shaking, and he could feel energy pulsing through them.

Yue was crying, and the moon spirit was dead, when Iroh said that she could help. Iroh looked at him oddly for a moment, and Yue declared she could give life back to the spirit. He tried to stop her, but then she was gone and there was nothing he could do. Yue vanished, and the fish started to glow, and then she was there. She said goodbye and they shared a brief kiss, but then she was truly gone as the moon returned to the sky.

His arms stopped glowing. The water stopped glowing. Aang had finished whatever he had been doing. Katara didn't stay for even a moment. She sprinted out of the oasis, calling out for Aang as she vanished from sight. He stood to follow, but Iroh grabbed his arm.

"Sokka, is it?" he asked gently. "May I have a word?"

Iroh was less crazy than Zuko, and he had tried to save the moon spirit, so Sokka let him talk for a moment. "Yes?" he asked cautiously.

"I see that you have chi patterns on your arms." Sokka looked at him in confusion. "The blue lines."

His eyes widened, and he took a step back, unconsciously grabbing his arms. "You can see them? But the only other person who has is Aang!"

"Ah, so you have been touched by a spirit. Only those who have been touched by spirits can see your chi patterns, and the Avatar has always been touched by a spirit." Iroh nodded to himself. "And it appears that you share a spiritual connection to the Avatar. You chi is shown when his is shown, and it most likely works the other way."

"But what does it mean?" asked Sokka. "This keeps happening, and I don't know why!"

"For the answers you seek, Sokka, you must go to where this all began." Iroh smiled. "I'm sure you'll be able to with the help of the Avatar. For now, I must be off. My nephew will be needing me."

Sokka stared as Iroh walked off. If that was supposed to give him answers, it hadn't. It had just confused him even more.


	5. The Avatar State

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_The Avatar State_

* * *

He hadn't told Aang anything yet. Not about the energy he had felt when Aang was with the ocean spirit, not about what Iroh had told him about chi and the touch of a spirit. Besides, Aang was stilling thinking about the siege. Sokka could talk to him later.

Later kept being pushed farther and farther away. Especially when Aang was told he could defeat the Firelord right then and there. General Fong gave Aang a guilt-trip, and later was pushed away even more.

It was funny seeing Aang pat his arms to see if they could glow, when he would be able to tell just by looking at Sokka. Nobody else could see the chi patterns on his arms, but it was still odd seeing them when he moved around. They were still not as bright as Aang's tattoos, but any marks he had in those areas were starting to fade from view.

Aang woke him nervously that night. The Avatar State shouldn't be forced, it wasn't right. "You can feel some of the energy, can't you?"

"Yeah." Sokka rubbed his arms. "It's... intense. I can see why you think it's wrong. Besides, you're the Avatar. Nobody would understand this better than you."

Wong was clearly insane. He attacked Aang in almost the instant, sending him flying outside. Sokka tried to rush after him, but the guards held him back. This was wrong. He already knew what Wong was trying to do: activate the Avatar State. He couldn't let that happen.

Sokka took out the guards, and ran to the hole in the tower. The earthbenders were attacking Aang, and he was desperately trying to avoid them. Sokka wished he could just jump down to help, but he was forced to bolt for the stairs. Aang could hold them off for a bit longer, but Wong clearly had some sort of trick up his sleeve.

Katara came running out, and Sokka quickly explained to her what was going on. Out came Boomerang, and he rushed in to help. Katara was right beside him, pulling out her water and using it as a whip. He nabbed one of the bird-horses, and it bolted, then everything stopped as Wong threatened Katara.

She sunk into the ground, and Sokka jumped off the bird horse in an instant. He bolted forward, but was knocked off his feet by Wong. He crashed into one of the stone discs, his chest heaving, but he had to get up. His arms were starting to tingle.

Katara's cry vanished, and Sokka saw his arms begin to glow. Aang had entered the Avatar State, and he was furious. Wong was begging for mercy, but it was too late. Even bringing Katara back out couldn't help.

_You share a spiritual connection to the Avatar._

Iroh's voice echoed in Sokka's mind. He furiously pushed away from the disc he had been throw into, staggering to his feet to see Aang hovering in the air, his face that of rage. The earth around them exploded, seeming to bend around Sokka instead of touching him. A cyclone of wind was surrounding him, but Sokka sprinted forward without a care.

"Sokka!" cried Katara. "What are you doing?"

The wind was strong, but Sokka pushed forward. He reached through the cyclone, his fingertips barely managing to grasp on, like when Aang had tried to save him from Hei Bai. Aang didn't push him away, and just like that the glow faded away, and they both fell to the ground.

Aang looked around at the destruction fearfully, but Sokka kept the tips of their fingers gripped tightly together. "It's okay, buddy. We're here for you."

Katara was at Aang's side in an instant, as she grabbed him in a hug. Sokka dropped his hand away, so Aang could hug her back.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I hope you never have to see me like that again."

But Wong was still a fool. He praised Aang, saying it was nearly perfect. Sokka wordlessly stood up, pulled out boomerang, and smacked him upside the head. Nobody had a problem with that.

Then were on Appa again. No escort to Omashu needed. Sokka sat on the corner of Appa's saddle, away from Aang and Katara. His arms were shaking, and he didn't want Katara to see.

That had been different from the other times Aang had entered the Avatar state. Sokka had felt some of his anger before, but nothing like this. It was terrifying. But he was able to get through to Aang before anything else happened. When he had grabbed Aang's hand it had felt like... balance.

_This spirit stuff is_ _weird. _Sokka resisted sighing. _I wish I had someone to talk to other than Aang. Or even Aang, but not with Katara around. She would worry too much._

Later was pushed away again.


	6. The Swamp

**It wasn't that Sokka didn't believe in all the spirit mumbo-jumbo, it was more that it was not his style. But being taken by a huge monster into the spirit world and leaving at the very last second, there are some lingering effects that he simply can't ignore.**

_The Swamp_

* * *

Aang had been giving him looks for the past few days, but they had been too busy to talk. Sokka wasn't going to put his concerns above Aang's need to train or find Bumi or help the citizens escape Omashu. Sure, his arms kept shaking and it sometimes felt like his blood was starting to boil, but he was just imagining those. It was just paranoia.

Aang said he could feel the swamp calling out to him, and there was a time when Sokka would have looked at him like he was insane. But he could also feel a strange pull. It made him think of bamboo, oddly enough, but specifically the sea of bamboo had been put in when Hei Bai took him to the spirit world.

It didn't matter. There was nowhere to land. Katara didn't even want to land. It should have been simple, but a massive tornado came out of nowhere and threw a wrench in the works. Sokka nearly flew off the saddle, but Katara managed to grab his hand and Aang quickly surrounded them in a sphere of wind.

The sphere broke, and they were suddenly flung through the air. The swamp water wasn't cold, but it was still miserable. Everything was humid and sticky, and there seemed to be some sort of presence in the very air. Plus there were gross leeches.

Out came his machete to slice through the vines, and Aang gently told Sokka that maybe that was a bad idea and that they should be nicer to the swamp.

He was about to reply with something snarky, when a voice that sounded a lot like Kuzon echoed in his head. _You know, the last few times you haven't trusted Aang on this sort of stuff, everything goes wrong. Maybe actually listen this time, huh, Sokka?_

The machete went back. "Alright." Katara seemed to be at a loss for words. "But if we get eaten by swamp monsters, I'm going to be really annoyed."

So Aang led the way, pushing the vines and other plants aside with his airbending, but not cutting a single one. The bugs made him wish to bring out his machete or Boomerang, but he wasn't about to risk it. There was a horrible shrieking animal and the swamp gas smelled awful.

"We should make a fire!" Sokka looked at Aang hopefully.

"No. I don't think that's a good idea."

So they sat in the dark and it had gotten cold, but Aang had said there would be no fire, so that was that. Katara was worried that they were being watched, and that pushed it a little too far for Sokka. That was just absurd.

Like the orb of light that was floating in front of them that zoomed around to show eyes glowing in the dark. Sokka and Katara both instantly launched over to Aang, as if he was any less scared than they were. They didn't let go, even as they all slowly drifted off to sleep.

Then they were all suddenly being dragged away by some sort of vines. Sokka plunged his hands into the ground, and was lucky enough to find a spot that wasn't soaking wet. He kicked furiously at the vines, barely managing to get untangled from them, before sprinting off with no clear direction.

The vines had finally stopped chasing after him, but now Sokka had no idea where he was. Cutting through the vines looked more tempting than ever, but even riskier than ever now that he didn't know where Aang or Katara were. So much to his frustration, Sokka was walking through clusters of thick vines as he called out for Aang and Katara.

He tripped over a vine that was hidden below the water, barely managing to stick his arms out before he hit the ground. "Wow, Sokka. I didn't know you were such a klutz!"

He practically jumped to his feet. Standing in front of him was Kuzon, who was grinning in the faint light. "K-Kuzon?"

"This place is weird, huh? It has some sort of connection to the spirit world." His grin fell away. "But I can't talk long. Listen, Sokka. You can't keep avoiding this."

"Avoiding what?" She tried to back away, but Kuzon was suddenly behind him.

"Oh, uh, maybe _this?_" He grabbed Sokka's arms, tracing the chi marks with his finger. "You haven't talked to Aang in weeks, and your chi is getting out of control.'

"Aang has more important things to worry about!" He tried to stamp in irritation, but the mud was too thick to ever make a sound. "Avatar stuff!"

Kuzon sighed. "Sokka, you share some sort of spiritual connection to the Avatar. Do you know how major that could be? You came through a closing door and left the same way. There are marks of the spirit world on you, and you need to understand what they mean. _Talk to Aang_."

He was alone again. Sokka grabbed his arms. They were starting to shake again.

* * *

Sokka didn't know how long he had been standing in one place for. All he knew was that Katara and Aang suddenly crashed into him, and they all went tumbling down. It was a huge relief to see them, and Sokka refrained from sounding too panicked as he said how great it was to finally see them again.

"Where were you?" asked Katara. "I was looking at over for you!"

"I was following some strange girl," said Aang. "She was laughing and wearing a nice dress."

Sokka looked at him in surprise. Was she also a spirit?

"I thought I saw mom," said Katara softly.

He froze for a moment. "Listen, we were all just scared and hungry," he said slowly. "Our minds were just playing trick on us. That's why we all saw things out here."

_Lying isn't good for you, Sokka,_ came Kuzon's voice.

Katara looked at him with wide eyes. "You saw something too?"

She couldn't know about the chi marks or Kuzon. "I..." he trailed off. "I thought I saw Yue." Everyone else was seeing spirits, and now Yue was one.

_Sokka!_

He ignored Kuzon. Aang was thinking. "So we all had visions. And they all led us here."

"Where?" asked Katara. "The middle of the swamp?"

"Yeah..." Aang looked up at a huge tree. "The center. The heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here."

As soon as he said it, Sokka felt the pull that he knew Aang was also feeling. It was the center of the swamp, he knew it.

"But why?" asked Katara.

Water splashed up beside them. A huge creature came surging out, followed by three mirror cried off fear. It went for Katara first, grabbing her and throwing her around in the air. Aang knocked her free with a blast of wind, only to be knocked through the air a second later.

Katara sliced through the vines trying to grab her, with Sokka rushing in with a sinking feeling. He managed to push her out of the way just as the swamp creature would have grabbed her, and it began dragging him away from Aang and Katara. It was Hei Bai all over again.

Katara came sailing across the water, trying to cut through the vines to no avail. Sokka could hardly tell what was happening after, as he was thrown through the air and water, barely getting a chance to properly breathe. He heard Katara get knocked away, followed by a gasp from Aang.

The swamp creature was suddenly surrounding him with vines. It was like being chased by a huge wave, except there was no shoreline to stop it. Sokka pushed as hard as he could, trying to prevent the creature from swallowing him up.

"Aang!" he yelled loudly. "Help!"

Help came. Aang twisted up the vines and Katara blasted him free. The creature reformed, but Sokka was just glad to be free from it. Aang tried to slam the creature down into the water, but he was knocked away once more. That seemed to be the last straw for Katara, as she began to slice through the creature with all the water she could throw.

"There's someone in there!" cried Sokka as the creature kept trying to reform. "He's bending the vines!" It wasn't a spirit after all.

Katara sliced through the creature's head, but it simply encased her in more vines. Aang came back, and looked at the person within angrily. Then it turned out that the swamp was sacred and the man explained why. He said he too had been called, and Sokka couldn't find himself to make fun of the man when he too had felt a call.

The visions had meant something. Aang had seen someone he would eventually meet. But Appa and Momo still needed to be found, and Aang reached down to the tree as if he knew what to do all along.

The arrow on his hand glowed, and Sokka could feel his wrist tingling. "Aang? What are you doing?"

He reached for Aang's shoulder, as suddenly everything was different. He could see the path Aang was following through the swamp, and could see where Appa had been. Sokka quickly pulled his hand away, everything returning to normal. Katara looked at Sokka in confusion, but Aang declared that they had to hurry, so there was no time to talk.

The waterbenders in the swamp were weird, but at least they had meat. Sokka didn't even bother trying to tell Katara there was nothing mystical about the swamp. He couldn't face lying to her again, especially not after hearing that she had seen mom. That would just be cruel, not denial. Especially since he was in no position to deny those sort of things.


End file.
